Paving project stumbles in Brookhaven

Summer road repaving is a month behind schedule in Brookhaven Town, a byproduct of a dispute between the supervisor and highway superintendent about the awarding of a town contract.

Suffolk Asphalt of Medford in March offered the lowest bid to resurface Brookhaven roads from the town's western edge to William Floyd Parkway. State law requires the town to award the contract to the "lowest responsible bidder."

But John Rouse, the town's highway superintendent, has declined to endorse Suffolk Asphalt, which bid $68 per ton for a job that will likely cost $5 million to $7 million by the time it is finished.

Rouse cited a federal lawsuit in which workers accused a related company -- Suffolk Paving of Medford, owned by the father of Suffolk Asphalt's owner -- of failing to pay wages.

Rouse and Supervisor Mark Lesko disagree about whether Rouse's refusal to endorse Suffolk Asphalt is holding up the process.

Lesko said the town typically chooses a paving company only after Rouse's recommendation and that he is "very concerned that the paving is starting so late."

Paving typically begins in June and ends in November, town officials said.

But Rouse said town and state laws do not make clear that choosing a paving company is his responsibility, and added he will neither select nor recommend Suffolk Asphalt. He sent a letter to the town's purchasing division Thursday saying one option would be to "reject all bids and rebid" for the work.

"If they want to award this guy this contract, they have to take responsibility to do that," Rouse said in an interview. "I just want to get these roads paved."

Rouse added that he believes it is not too late for the town -- which has about 2,000 miles of roads -- to complete its scheduled resurfacing.

The paving contract on which Suffolk Asphalt bid is part of the townwide repaving program, which is budgeted to cost about $16.5 million.

Meanwhile, Suffolk Asphalt is preparing to sue the town if it is not awarded the contract, said Steven Pinks of Hauppauge, an attorney who represents the company. The town twice determined Suffolk Asphalt to be a "responsible bidder" through hearings, said Pinks and town officials.

Pinks added that the federal lawsuit against Suffolk Paving, which is winding through court, is unrelated to Suffolk Asphalt. Suffolk Paving owner Louis Vecchia has "at the best" a limited role in Suffolk Asphalt, he said.

"The town would have saved a lot of money in my opinion if they would have gone with the low bidder," Pinks said.